Sure, the weather was to blame, right? But the unspoken criticism of this spectacle on the river, hyped for more than a year and compared to opening ceremonies at the Olympics in some breathless advance accounts, was that even if Redmoon had succeeded in torching its river floats, the whole thing would have been a fair bit underwhelming. With vendors from the neighborhoods selling candy and jewelry, middling live musical acts and a few food trucks, the event was a perfectly fine affair—if it were, say, a neighborhood street festival. But spectacle of a much higher order is what we were promised, and fire or not, spectacle it would not, could not, have been. Remember, we expect magic to stir our blood in Chicago.
Audience Choice: School closings
Other audience comments that caught our attention: “Getting wine from Rauner”; “His t-shirt tucked in his pants at a Blackhawks game”; “potholes.”
Today In The Culture, May 27, 2021: Money for Preservation | Mayor to Curtail Carryout | LSD Name Game ART Mencoff Family Endows $1 Million in SAIC Internships For Historic and Cultural Preservation The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has received a gift of $1 million from Sam and Ann Mencoff to establish the endowed Mencoff Family Internships in Historic and Cultural Preservation Fund. The investment, which builds off of a previously established Mencoff Family Fellowship in…
